GWENT game guide
Gwent is a 2-player card game that pits two armies against each other on the field of battle. Each player takes turns placing one card on the battlefield at a time. At the end of each round, the players total the strength of all Unit Cards on their respective sides of the battlefield. Begin by picking which faction you want to command. Each faction encourages a specific style of play and comes with a passive ability. This ability is described on the faction’s Help Card, which has the faction name and symbol on the top and also includes descriptions of Unit and Special Card abilities.
winning The player with the highest total strength wins the round. The first player to win 2 rounds wins the game.
setup To play, each player must prepare a deck consisting of the following: • • • •
1 Leader Card only 22 Unit Cards minimum 10 Special Cards maximum 2 gem counters
Useful Tip
You can have more Unit Cards in your deck than the recommended minimum. Just remember that you are then lowering your chances of getting your best cards when you draw at the beginning of the game.
Leader Card This card is chosen prior to the battle and placed face up near the battlefield. It grants whoever plays it a special ability, which can be either passive or active. Each Leader Card contains a description of that Leader’s ability. You can identify Leader Cards by the faction symbol in the top left corner.
Unit Cards When placed on the battlefield, the strength value in the top left corner of the card is added to its player’s total.
Strength value
Range
Each Unit Card has a battlefield position represented by the icon below the strength icon. This icon indicates where on the battlefield that unit may be placed (see BATTLEFIELD LAYOUT).
Ability
Faction Name and description
Some Unit Cards are Heroes (these have Hero written above their names and spiked strength value icons filled in their faction’s color). Heroes are the only cards not affected by any special abilities (Special Card, Unit Card or Leader Card abilities).
hero
Some Unit Cards have special abilities (described on the Help Cards). Unit Card abilities are resolved immediately after the card is placed on the appropriate row.
Special Cards Special Cards (such as Weather cards, Decoy, Scorch, etc.) do not have strength values of their own, but have many different abilities that can, for example, modify the strength of units already on the battlefield. The abilities of Special Cards are described on the Help Cards and are represented by an icon in the top left corner of the card. Special Card abilities are resolved immediately after the card is placed on the appropriate row.
Gem Counters Gem counters are used to track the number of rounds lost. Place them on your Leader Card at the start of a game. After each round, the losing player removes a gem. When a player runs out of gems, he or she loses the game.
battlefield layout PLAYER 1 Siege Combat Ranged Combat Close Combat Weather Cards Close Combat Ranged Combat Siege Combat PLAYER 2
start A coin toss should decide who starts first. If players do not have a coin, the player with the shortest name starts. In some cases, leader and faction abilities may determine who starts first. Each player shuffles his or her deck and draws 10 cards. Both players then may, but don’t have to, discard up to two cards from their hand and draw replacements from their deck. These 10 cards will be the player’s hand for the rest of the game.
Useful Tip
You only draw new cards into your hand once, at the start of the game. There are cards with abilities allowing you to get additional cards, but most of the time you have to make sure to reserve some for later. Choose when to play a card wisely and remember that passing is sometimes the best strategy.
rounds Players take turns playing one card at a time. Players may pass if they wish to. Passing means sitting out the entire round, and the other player is free to keep playing cards from his or her hand, one at a time, until he or she also chooses to pass.
keeping score Use the Score Card and the four score tokens marked with faction symbols to keep track of the players’ total strength. The Score Card is split into two sides, one for each player, divided by numbers running down the middle. Each side consists of 10 rows of two spaces each. Place a score token, symbol side up, on the left space on
Example
your side to indicate the 10s part of your score, and on the right space to indicate the 1s. When you reach 100, flip your tokens over so the 100 side is facing up, and mark the 10s and 1s part of your score as usual. See the example – the player on the left’s total strength is 21, while the player on the right’s is 123.
resolution When both players have passed, they add up the strength of all their cards on the battlefield. The player with the lowest total strength loses and must remove a gem counter from his or her Leader Card. In the event of a draw, both players must remove a gem. All cards, including Special Cards, are then removed from the battlefield and placed on their respective discard piles. The winner starts the next round.
golden rule Whenever a card’s text contradicts rules from this manual, the card takes precedence.
still hungry for more gwent? You can check out our Gwent video to watch the game creators talk more about the game and how to play it. You will find it here youtu.be/Hhnhf8VMmhM
appendix – ability descriptions Faction Abilities Monsters – One Unit Card stays after each round. To choose it, shuffle all Unit Cards on the battlefield and draw one at random. Nilfgaard – Win whenever there is a draw. Northern Realms – Draw a card from your deck whenever you win
a round.
Scoia’tael – You decide who goes first at the start of a battle.
Unit Card Abilities Muster – Go through your deck, find any cards with the same name or
unit type (Vampire, Crone, etc.) as this card and play them all immediately.
Spy – Place on your opponent’s battlefield (counts towards your opponent’s total) and draw 2 cards from your deck.
Agile – Place on either the Close Combat or Ranged Combat row. Cannot be moved once placed.
Medic – Look through your discard pile and choose 1 Unit Card (no Heroes or Special Cards). Play it instantly. Tight Bond – Place next to a card with the same name to double the strength of both cards.
Morale Boost – Adds +1 to all units on the row (excluding itself ). SCROTCH
Scorch – Affects this card’s row on the opponent’s side of the battlefield only. If the opponent has a total strength of 10 or higher on that row, kill that row’s strongest card(s). Commander’s Horn – Doubles the strength of all Unit Cards on this card affecting this row. card’s row, unless there is already a
Special Card Abilities Commander’s Horn – Place on a combat row. Doubles the strength of all Unit Cards in that row. Limited to 1 per row.
Scorch – Discard after playing. Kills the strongest card(s) on the
battlefield for both players - so if there’s a tie, this kills all cards of that strength on both sides.
Decoy – Replace 1 of your Unit Cards on the battlefield with the Decoy card.
Return that Unit Card to your hand. The Decoy remains on the battlefield wherever the Unit Card was before the swap. Its strength value is 0. You cannot use a Decoy to replace Hero Cards or Special Cards.
Biting Frost (Weather) – Place face up on the battlefield. Sets the strength of all close combat units to 1 for both players. Impenetrable Fog (Weather) – Place face up on the battlefield. Sets the strength of all ranged combat units to 1 for both players.
Torrential Rain (Weather) – Place face up on the battlefield. Sets strength of all siege combat units to 1 for both players.
Clear Weather – Discard after playing. Discard all Weather Cards currently on the battlefield. Their effects are cancelled.
credits Design: Damien Monnier Additional Design: Rafał Jaki Card Design: Fernando Forero, Przemysław Juszczyk, Karolina Oksiędzka, Dan Marian Voinescu Artwork: Jim Daly, Bartłomiej Gaweł, Bernard Kowalczuk, Lea Leonowicz, John Liew, Marek Madej, Sławomir Maniak, Jan Marek, Alicja Użarowska, Monika Zawistowska Special Thanks: Marcin Cierpicki, Travis Currit, Paweł Kapała, Ashley Ann Karas, Robert Malinowski, Karolina Stachyra, Joanna Wieliczko DTP: Przemysław Juszczyk, Michał Krawczyk, Paulina Łukiewska, Karolina Oksiędzka
